Neet row: CBI arrests Pune botany professor on NTA panel for ‘dictating’ leaked questions in secret classes

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested Manisha Mandhare, a Botany professor and a member of the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) paper-setting committee for the Neet-UG 2026 examination, in connection with the alleged medical entrance test paper leak case.

Mandhare was arrested in Delhi after being questioned for several hours at the CBI headquarters. Investigators described her as “another mastermind who was the source for leak of Neet-UG 2026 Examination Biology questions.”

Officials said her arrest followed disclosures made during the interrogation of alleged kingpin PV Kulkarni, a retired Chemistry professor arrested earlier this week, along with other accused linked to the case.

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Mandhare teaches at Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Pune and had reportedly been associated with the NTA’s Neet paper-setting process for the last five to six years. According to sources, she played a key role in preparing Botany and Zoology questions for the May 3 examination and had unrestricted access to the question papers.

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The CBI alleged that she leaked questions to select aspirants during secret coaching sessions conducted at her residence in Pune in April.

“During these classes she explained and disclosed various questions from Botany and Zoology subjects and made the students note down the same in their notebooks and also mark in their text books,” the agency said.

Investigators further claimed that Mandhare dictated the leaked questions and answers to students and charged lakhs of rupees for access to the sessions. Several of the questions allegedly matched those that later appeared in the examination.

Officials said the modus operandi mirrored that of Kulkarni, who is accused of leaking Chemistry questions through similar private sessions.

Kulkarni and Waghmare were produced before a Delhi court on Saturday, where the CBI sought 14 days of custody, saying the accused may need to be taken to multiple locations to uncover the “larger conspiracy”.

So far, nine people have been arrested in the Neet-UG 2026 paper leak case from across Pune, Delhi, Jaipur and Gurugram as the investigation widens into what officials suspect is a nationwide examination fraud network.